Billy Joel

"Don't take any shit from anybody!"

"And in truth, of course, I'm not just 60 - I'm twelve, I'm 23, I'm 37, I'm 42, I'm 18. I'm every age I've ever been. Depending on what day of the week it is and what the situation calls for at the moment."

"She's got a way about her I don't know what it is. But I know that I can't live without her. She's got a way of pleasin' I don't know what it is But there doesn't have to be a reason anyway."

"She comes to me when I'm feelin' down Inspires me without a sound She touches me and I get turned around."

"You can walk away from your mistakes You can turn your back on what you do Just a little smile is all it takes And you can have your cake and eat it too. Loneliness will get to you somehow But ev'rybody loves you now."

"It's nine o' clock on a Saturday Regular crowd shuffles in There's an old man sitting next to me Making love to his tonic and gin."

"Sing us a song you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight. Well we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feeling alright."

"And the waitress is practicing politics As the businessmen slowly get stoned Yes they're sharing a drink they call loneliness But it's better than drinking alone."

"If I traveled all my life And I never get to stop and settle down Long as I have you by my side There's a roof above and good walls all around You're my castle, you're my cabin and my instant pleasure dome I need you in my house 'cause you're my home."

"From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia Rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand And his daring life of crime made him a legend in his time East and west of the Rio Grande. Well, he started with a bank in Colorado In the pocket of his vest a Colt he hid. And his age and his size took the teller by surprise, And the word spread of Billy the Kid."

"So you play your albums and you smoke your pot And you meet your girlfriend in the parking lot Oh, but still you're aching for the things you haven't got, What went wrong? And if you can't understand why your world is so dead And why you've got to keep in style and feed your head Well, you're twenty one and still you mother makes your bed And that's too long."

"Streetlife serenaders Have no obligations Hold no grand illusions Need no stimulation."

"Hiding up in the mountains Laying low in the canyons Goin' nowhere in the streets With the Spanish names Makin' love with the natives In their Hollywood places Making up for all the time gone by Los Angelenos All came from somewhere."

"I am the entertainer and I know just where I stand Another serenader and another long haired band Today I am your champion, I may have won your hearts, But I know the game, you'll forget my name, And I won't be here in another year If I don't stay on the charts."

"I am the entertainer, I've come to do my show You've heard my latest record, it's been on the radio It took me years to write it, they were the best years of my life It was a beautiful song but it ran too long If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit So they cut it down to 3:05."

"I am the entertainer, the idol of my age I make all kinds of money when I go on the stage You see me in the papers, I've been in the magazines But if I go cold, I won't get sold I get put in the back in the discount rack Like another can of beans."

"So many faces in and out of my life Some will last Some will be just now and then. Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again. Say goodbye to Hollywood Say goodbye my baby Say goodbye to Hollywood Say goodbye my baby."

"Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity Our reason coexists with our insanity And though we choose between reality and madness It's either sadness or euphoria."

"Some folks like to get away Take a holiday from the neighborhood. Hop a flight to Miami Beach Or to Hollywood But I'm talking a Greyhound On the Hudson River Line. I'm in a New York state of mind."

"It was so easy living day by day Out of touch with the rhythm and blues But now I need a little give and take The New York Times, The Daily News."

"There's a place in the world for the angry young man With his working class ties and his radical plans He refuses to bend he refuses to crawl And he's always at home with his back to the wall And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost And struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross And likes to be known as the angry young man."

"I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage I found that just surviving was a noble fight I once believed in causes too I had my pointless point of view And life went on no matter who was wrong or right."

"So before we end and then begin We'll drink a toast to how it's been A few more hours to be complete A few more nights on satin sheets A few more times that I can say I've loved these days."

"Seen the lights go out Broadway I saw the Empire State laid low And life went on beyond the Palisades They all bought Cadillacs And left there long ago."

"You know those lights were bright on Broadway That was so many years ago Before we all lived here in Florida Before the Mafia took over Mexico. There are not many who remember They say a handful still survive To tell the world about The way the lights went out And keep the memory alive."

"It seems such a waste of time If that's what it's all about If that's movin' up then I'm movin' out."

"Well, we all fall in love But we disregard the danger Though we share so many secrets There are some we never tell. Why were you so surprised That you never saw the stranger? Did you ever let your lover see The stranger in yourself?"

"I don't want clever conversation I never want to work that hard. I just want someone that I can talk to I want you just the way you are. I need to know that you will always be The same old someone that I knew What will it take till you believe in me The way that I believe in you."

"I remember those days hanging out At the village green Engineer boots, leather jackets And tight blue jeans Drop a dime in the box play the Song about New Orleans Cold beer, hot lights My sweet romantic teenage nights."

"Brenda and Eddie were the popular steadies And the king and the queen of the prom Riding around with the car top down and the radio on Nobody looked any finer Or was more of a hit at the Parkway Diner We never knew we could want more than that out of life Surely Brenda and Eddie would always know how to survive."

"Brenda and Eddie had had it already By the summer of '75 From the high to the low To the end of the show For the rest of their lives. They couldn't go back to the greasers. The best they could do was pick up the pieces. We always knew they would both find a way to get by. That's all I heard about Brenda and Eddie. Can't tell you more than I told you already. And here we are wavin' Brenda and Eddie goodbye."

"But you know you can't always see when you're right You got your passion you got your pride But don't you know only fools are satisfied? Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true When will you realize Vienna waits for you?"

"You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd We ain't too pretty we ain't too proud We might be laughing a bit too loud But that never hurt no one. Come on Virginia show me a sign Send up a signal I'll throw you the line. The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind Never lets in the sun. And only the good die young."

"They say there's a heaven for those who will wait Some say it's better but I say it ain't. I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints Sinners are much more fun... And only the good die young."

"She can kill with a smile She can wound with her eyes She can ruin your faith with her casual lies And she only reveals what she wants you to see She hides like a child But she's always a woman to me."

"Oh, she takes care of herself She can wait if she wants She's ahead of her time Oh, and she never gives out And she never gives in She just changes her mind."

"Because you had to be a big shot, didn't you You had to open up your mouth You had to be a big shot, didn't you All your friends were so knocked out You had to have the last word, last night You know what everything's about You had to have a white hot spotlight You had to be a big shot last night."

"Honesty is such a lonely word Everyone is so untrue Honesty is hardly ever heard And mostly what I need from you."

"I can always find someone To say they sympathize If I wear my heart out on my sleeve. But I don't want some pretty face To tell me pretty lies. All I want is someone to believe."

"I don't need you to worry for me cause I'm alright. I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home. I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life. Go ahead with your own life and leave me alone."

"I never said you had to offer me a second chance. I never said I was a victim of circumstance. I still belong, don't get me wrong. And you can speak your mind But not on my time."

"They will tell you, you can't sleep alone in strange place. Then they'll tell you, you can't sleep with somebody else. Ah, but sooner or later you sleep in your own space. Either way, it's okay, you wake with yourself."

"Now think of all the years you tried to Find someone to satisfy you. I might be as crazy as you say. If I'm crazy then it's true That it's all because of you And you wouldn't want me any other way. You may be right I may be crazy. But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for. It's too late to fight It's too late to change me. You may be wrong for all I know But you may be right."

"It's just a fantasy It's not the real thing It's just a fantasy It's not the real thing. But sometimes a fantasy Is all you need."

"All your life you had to stand in line Still you’re standing on your feet. All your choices made you change your mind Now your calendar's complete. Don't wait for answers Just take your chances Don't ask me why."

"Yesterday you were an only child Now your ghosts have gone away. You can kill them in the classic style. Now you, "parlez vous francais" Don't look for answers You took your chances Don't ask my why."

"What's the matter with the crowd I'm seeing? "Don't you know that they're out of touch?" Should I try to be a straight 'A' student? "If you are then you think too much. Don't you know about the new fashion honey? All you need are looks and a whole lotta money." It's the next phase, new wave , dance craze, anyways It's still rock and roll to me. Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me."

"Every child had a pretty good shot To get at least as far as their old man got But something happened on the way to that place They threw an American flag in our face."

"Well I'm living here in Allentown And it's hard to keep a good man down But I won't be getting up today."

"You have to learn to pace yourself. Pressure. You're just like everybody else. Pressure. You've only had to run so far, So good. But you will come to a place Where the only thing you feel Are loaded guns in your face. And you'll have to deal with Pressure."